Snapshots disappeared ?

LISsys · 2026-01-09T14:40:41+00:00

Hello everyone,

After using Zotero for so long, I've encountered a major problem:

After creating and checking around 500 snapshots, I'm sure I saved them locally.

But now some of them (30-50) have disappeared. The entry is still in my library, but there's no trace of the snapshot.

Should I rebuild the index?

Best regards,
Lis

dstillman · 2026-01-09T14:50:38+00:00

You haven't been syncing, so there's not much we can tell you, but items wouldn't just disappear. They might not have saved originally, or you might be looking at duplicates of the parent items. Also, at least in the library you synced today, all the items were created on one of three consecutive days last month, so this wouldn't be a library you'd used for a long time. If you did some sort of export/import, it's possible you lost some attachments in the process.

(There's no "index" here.)

LISsys · 2026-01-09T15:08:47+00:00

Thank you for your prompt reply.

It is indeed a new library that I created last month. I took snapshots and renamed them using the right-click function “Rename file from parent metadata.” All of them. I checked this before Christmas.

All parent items are present in the database. The files (snapshots) of some parent items are missing.

dstillman · 2026-01-09T15:14:05+00:00

Again, not much we can say given without a sync history, but all I can tell you is that items can't just disappear — it's just not something that can happen given the way Zotero works.

Note that you have a few dozen items in your trash with child snapshots. You should see if that's what you're looking for.

LISsys · 2026-01-09T15:21:01+00:00

The items in trash were deletet because they were duplicates. Not what I am missing. Now, to solve my problem: How do I make a new snapshot for a given parent file? Drag-and-Drop a URL from Firefox does not work.

dstillman · 2026-01-09T15:24:49+00:00

The items in trash were deletet because they were duplicates.

Right, but they also have snapshots attached, so you should make sure you didn't accidentally delete the wrong items (i.e., ones with snapshots instead of ones without).

Currently, to add a snapshot to an existing item, you have to save a new item with a snapshot and drag the snapshot from one item to the other. (We'll be restoring a way to save a snapshot for an existing item in a future version. It used to be possible years ago but hasn't been possible recently for technical reasons.)

tim820 · 2026-01-10T01:29:25+00:00

Another way to add a snapshot to an existing item is to use the Singlefile browser extension (available for most browsers) - that's the same code that Zotero uses to save snapshots. It will prompt you to save the web page to a file, which you can then drag onto the existing item (or use right-click Add Attachment\File).